Looking for information regarding Sega Genesis box's

[Spartacus]

I only started buying Genesis games this year and have really come to appreciate and respect the clam shell cases they were sold in for thier durability. However some of the titles I've purchased arrived in a cardboard type box. I don't know where to find out if that was the only way those titles were packaged or not. I have seen the Genesis version of 'Rampart' in both a clam shell box and a cardboard box and that kind of got me thinking that I might very well be able to replace some or all of the cardboard boxed games I have with the clam shell versions. Unless there's a good reason for me not to prefer the hard cases, does anyone know where I might find this information out. Or if you're willing to take a look at what I have, maybe you know for a fact which are replaceable. Thanks!


Castlevania Bloodlines, Comix Zone, Battle Squadron, Beyond Oasis, Bubsy, Doom Troopers, Gargoyles, the Pagemaster, Ristar, Shining Force 2, Sonic & Knuckles, Star Control, Vectorman, Vectorman 2, WarpSpeed, & Weaponlord

[The Manimal]

In retrospect, I should have gone for complete Genny games only... I didn't.


NES games are fine because I prefer those sleeves to any type of clampshell case.


Doh!

NOT easy to find those 'in the wild' anymore....only places around here that sell Genesis games (and they are quite all over the place) are CART ONLY :/

[-hellvin-]

Basically any accolade game will be in a cardboard box. Some titles include:

Double Dragon
Onslaught
Star Control
Turrican
Warpspeed
ect...

Then there are some others that have both. I believe Phantasy Star IV has both. Mine is cardboard. Accolade's boxes are still pretty durable but the damn sega ones like sonic & knuckles get destroyed so easily.

[Lemmy Kilmister]

I know castlevania bloodlines was rerelease by majesco so that could be a factor.

[izret101]

I would suggest keeping both versions of the game. The cardboard ones i would guess are rarer just like the card board for anysystem is. I have a cardboard copy of Jurassic Park: Rampage Edition, and passed up buying a cardboard Sonic and Knuckles(i dont know if either of these have clamshell counterparts.)

[mikeetler]

Out of your list only Castlevania has a plastic case counterpart, which was the original Konami release.

As for some of the other titles mentioned so far in this thread, Phantasy Star IV, JP Rampage and Sonic & Knuckles were only released in cardboard boxes.

-Mike

[Melf]

Domestically, these have cardboard boxes as far as I know:

- Beyond Oasis
- Phantasy Star IV
- Shining Force II
- Contra: Hardcorps (reissue)
- Rocket Knight Adventures (reissue)
- Castlevania Bloodlines (reissue)
- Frogger
- Lion King (reissue)
- Aladdin (reissue)
- Vectorman
- Vectorman 2
- X-Men 2 the Clone Wars
- Sonic & Knuckles
- Jurassic Park: RE
- Comix Zone
- Battle Squadron- Sword of Sodan
- Buddukan
- Doom Troopers
- Gargoyles
- Ristar
- Adventures of Batman & Robin
- Desert Strike (reissue)
- Jungle Strike (reissue)
- Urban Strike (reissue)
- Star Control
- Double Dragon
- Turrican
- Hardball!
- Test Drive II: The Duel
- Winter Challenge
- Mike Ditka Power Football

Those are all I can think of at the moment.

[Ed Oscuro]

I believe Phantasy Star IV has both. Mine is cardboard.
Phantasy Star IV is cardboard only.

Thank goodness I've got Phantasy Star: The End of the Millennium - two copies! :D

[Wavelflack]

"Phantasy Star IV is cardboard only"

Are you sure? I swear that I saw PS4 in Kay Bee's giant clearance bins as a plastic boxed game. It was years ago, I know, but the memory is pretty vivid--mainly because I kept checking week after week to see when it would drop below the $29.95 "clearance" price marked on it.

[Ed Oscuro]

I'm very much sure. If anybody sees a U.S. copy manufactured with a clamshell case, I'd definitely be surprised.

[Wavelflack]

Well, I can't surprise you, because the price never dropped and I never bought it.

I did get Funny World/ Balloon Boy and Earth Defense from the bin, though. I noticed them because the cases were narrower. How those games ended up at a place like Kay Bee, I'll never know. They had such a limited selection, I can't see why those two titles would be part of it.

Anyway, that was back in 95-96, I think.

[Promophile]

I'm very much sure. If anybody sees a U.S. copy manufactured with a clamshell case, I'd definitely be surprised.

I'm 100 pct sure I owned a copy of PS4 in a plastic case. It was bought shortly after release in Italy at a Air Force Base exchange. It was sold with all my games when my dad forced me to sell my games years ago....

[Spartacus]

I just wanted to thank everyone for thier input.
Thank you Hellvin for mentioning 'Turrican' for the Genesis. I didn't even know about that title. I have 'Mega Turrican' in the hard case and was unaware of the other. "Turrican' and 'Turrican 2' are some of my most prized titles in my SNES collection. Great games!
Thanks to Izret101 for suggesting I hang on the the cardboard boxed versions I do have. They are in good condition, and you might be right about that becoming harder to find as time goes on.
Special thanks to Melf. You're list pretty much answered all my questions. I had no idea games were re-released on the Genesis. I'll assume my 'Castlevania Bloodlines' is a re-issue. It doesn't seem to be clearly identified as such, like the way they do on other systems where the box's are unmistakably splashed with Greatest Hits, Players Choice, ect.
Thank you all!

[Melf]

A few more:

- Toy Story (reissue)
- Tiny Toons: Buster's Hidden Treasure (reissue)
- Ishido

[odysseyzine]

I have copies of Ms. Pac Man and Earthworm Jim in cardboard. If I remember right, the cardboard cases were pretty prevailant on the shelves as the Genesis era drew to a close.

[Melf]

True. Both were reissued in cardboard boxes but originally came in clamshells.

[Iron Draggon]

"Phantasy Star IV is cardboard only"

Are you sure? I swear that I saw PS4 in Kay Bee's giant clearance bins as a plastic boxed game. It was years ago, I know, but the memory is pretty vivid--mainly because I kept checking week after week to see when it would drop below the $29.95 "clearance" price marked on it.

Oh my, you were quite the cheapskate then, weren't you? I paid $100 for PS4 on the day that it was released! So $30 was definitely a clearance price.

[Promophile]

"Phantasy Star IV is cardboard only"

Are you sure? I swear that I saw PS4 in Kay Bee's giant clearance bins as a plastic boxed game. It was years ago, I know, but the memory is pretty vivid--mainly because I kept checking week after week to see when it would drop below the $29.95 "clearance" price marked on it.

Oh my, you were quite the cheapskate then, weren't you? I paid $100 for PS4 on the day that it was released! So $30 was definitely a clearance price.

Man it was hard to convince my parents to buy me a 100 dollar game!

[Ed Oscuro]

I'm 100 pct sure I owned a copy of PS4 in a plastic case. It was bought shortly after release in Italy at a Air Force Base exchange. It was sold with all my games when my dad forced me to sell my games years ago....
European Mega Drive or Genesis?

I've never seen a copy of a Genesis copy of Phantasy Star IV in a clamshell case, not once. I'm starting to check eBay regularly to see if one shows up; so far they're all cardboard.

[anagrama]

I'm 100 pct sure I owned a copy of PS4 in a plastic case. It was bought shortly after release in Italy at a Air Force Base exchange.

The European PAL version is in a clamshell case. The only PAL game released in cardboard packaging was Sonic & Knuckles, presumably due to the unusual cart shape.

[Ed Oscuro]

Yeah...if I see a copy of PSIV for the Genesis that comes in an official clamshell case, I'll definitely be putting some money down for it.

One other thing...in the Rarity Guide the U.S. version of PSIV has the subtitle, but the "non-US" version doesn't...either of these referring to the Japanese release, which is just Phantasy Star: The End of the Millennium? Plus the Genesis version doesn't actually have the subtitle on the package box...if one's going by the title screen that's alright, but for purposes of collecting that's a bit confusing.

[anagrama]

Can't speak for the Genesis entry, but I based all the PAL MD names on what was on the box.
The JP version isn't up yet, but will be "Phantasy Star: The End of the Millenium".

[Ed Oscuro]

Yay! That clears things up.

[Duncan]

I've wanted a list of this info (Sega MS and Genesis boxes) for a long time -- think I'll have to get to work on it.

Here are some general rules of thumb I've noticed for the Genesis:

1) Pretty much everything Sega released up to 1994-1995 or so came in the classic black hard-shell plastic case with label insert. (The color scheme changed during 1992 or so from the original black crosshatch pattern to a more distinctive red-striped layout.) After the introduction of Sonic and Knuckles (an oversized cart) in sliding carboard, many more of Sega's releases came packaged this way as well. Also, when Majesco re-released some of the Genesis library during 1997-1998, games that hadn't previously been found in cardboard were released that way as well.

2) Most of the third-party publishers followed Sega's lead in both packaging and design, and for about the same periods of time. There were differences though: some publishers shunned the plain black crosshatch pattern in favor of more vibrant full-color artwork that wrapped around the box. (Sega itself did this on a couple of releases as well, most notably Streets of Rage 2.)

3) During 1992-1993, Sega released their version of Nintendo's Player's Choice line. These were the Sega Classics, repackaged versions of older games that came in a distinctive blue-themed box. Many popular titles like Golden Axe, Revenge of Shinobi and Altered Beast were revived this way. (Cartridges and manuals, interestingly, retained their original designs no matter what the box looked like.)

4) Electronic Arts (EA) actually started out with cardboard first (using a very cheap NES style of box) and then moved on to their own unique form of clamshell case. EA cases are about a quarter-inch thicker, but otherwise look the same as Sega's own productions.

5) Accolade and Ballistic (basically the same company) used shoebox-style cases made of thick cardboard. This paralleled the similar boxes used on PC games of the same era.

That's off the top of my head, and it's just for starters...I'll come up with more later.

[chimp69]

sonic 3d blast has a cardboard box

[mills]

At the thrift store they had a sealed Sonic 2 in a cardboard box, and a sealed Sonic 2 in a plastic box.

[snes_collector]

My copy of Desert Demolition is in a cardboard box

[Jumpman Jr.]

One (if not both) of the Power Rangers game(s) is in a cardboard box.

[paine22]

hey ive been looking for the same things myself my fiancee and i came across these 2 sites that sell bulk game rental cases they are multi use cases
http://www.specialtystoreservices.com/productchild.aspx?group=7673&img=7673.jpg&id=
http://www.mediacases.com/index2.htm

this is where we are gonna buy ours at and the ones with the sleeves you can put the card board inside the cases
hope this helps

[eday_2010]

Sega switched from plastic clamshell to cardboard in 1994, probably the second half. Sonic 3 was released ain a clamshell, and S&K in cardboard. So at some point in '94, they made the switch.

The colour scheme changed in 1993, not 1992. Games in 1992 were still released with the black and silver grid scheme.

Phantasy Star IV was released in a cardboard case only in North America.

Case closed.

Interestingly, I have a copy of Sonic 2 released in the cardboard box mentioned by Mills, and it's not a re-release.

[DigitalSpace]

A couple more Genesis games available in cardboard boxes:

The Lost World: Jurassic Park (available only in the cardboard box since this was a pretty late Genesis release)
Monopoly (Ballistic reissue)

[Dreamc@sting]

Bonkers (the one based on the cartoon) has a cardboard case as well

[JerseyDevil65]

Mega Bomberman comes in a cardboard case as well.